1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:02,520 So that leads me into spiritual gifts. 2 00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:05,000 You do see a couple of them working here today, right at the 3 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:10,200 worship and Carrie and and our sister here and Kevin, I mean 4 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:14,200 the body of Christ coming together and using their passion 5 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:17,960 and their hearts for the things that are Lord. 6 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:22,920 And how awesome is that, right? So I wanted to talk this morning 7 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:28,520 about the church and how God sees it and how he designed it 8 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:34,240 and the purpose of why he created a church in general and 9 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:39,720 the initial purpose of of the Lord's heart for the world. 10 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:44,200 We can see in the book of Matthew chapter 28, where he 11 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:48,280 says to the disciples and those following him before he 12 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:52,320 ascended, it says, and Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 13 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:55,840 all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 14 00:00:56,320 --> 00:01:00,600 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them 15 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:03,920 in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 16 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:08,080 teaching them to observe all things that I've commanded you. 17 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:13,040 And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. 18 00:01:13,040 --> 00:01:15,960 Amen. So that's what we do here every 19 00:01:15,960 --> 00:01:19,440 week. We we teach you the things that 20 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:23,200 God desires you to know so you know how to follow him. 21 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:26,720 You know how to keep your life on track with him so you can be 22 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:31,440 blessed by him and enjoy your relationship with God on a daily 23 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:34,920 basis because of your knowledge and understanding of the word of 24 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:37,040 God. Living the word of God, 25 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:41,760 meditating on it, receiving it, listening to it, hearing it and 26 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:46,760 applying it to your lives daily. That's the job of the the pastor 27 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:50,200 teacher to feed the sheep. Jesus said if you love me you 28 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:53,240 feed my sheep. And I know any man that teaches 29 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:57,280 in the church as well as the women that teach the women our 30 00:01:57,280 --> 00:02:04,040 hearts desire is not to give an impressive message or whatever a 31 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:08,520 motivational speech, but to give you the truth of God's word. 32 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:12,920 So it goes into your art, your hearts and begins to change your 33 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:17,360 thinking and change your lives. And it happens, doesn't it? 34 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:20,840 Week in and week out, our lives are being changed little by 35 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:23,600 little. Our hearts become softer. 36 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:27,440 We learn to love God and we learn to to love each other. 37 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:29,920 We learn to be patient with each other. 38 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:32,760 As Cindy and I were talking about something recently, you 39 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:34,720 know, we have conflict at times in our marriage. 40 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:36,480 We all do, but we love each other. 41 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:40,920 We've been together 54 years and we just never gave up on each 42 00:02:40,920 --> 00:02:42,840 other. It's easy to quit and to say I'm 43 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:47,120 moving on or whatever, but in church relationships, we work, 44 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:50,960 we endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace 45 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:54,680 because we, we love one another and none of us are perfect, but 46 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:58,760 God is perfecting us. But also, the first thing you do 47 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:01,920 after you become a new believer in Jesus is to get baptized. 48 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:06,360 So if you haven't been baptized yet, on September 20th, water 49 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:10,120 temperature will be about 85° and no worries, we're going to 50 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:13,120 baptize. OK, So let me know, Pastor 51 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:16,680 Lewis, if you want to get baptized at our house at 10:00 52 00:03:16,680 --> 00:03:21,400 on Saturday, September 20th, that'll be the last baptism for 53 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:24,000 this year unless we go to the YMCA. 54 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:28,320 So take advantage of it. Some people are calling us and 55 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:30,160 saying, you know, I never been baptized. 56 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:33,400 I really need to get baptized. And that's something God will 57 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:37,200 bless you for. Doesn't save you, but it will 58 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:40,160 make you go deeper in the Lord because you're being obedient to 59 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:45,440 what it is he told you to do. OK and and then also what it 60 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:48,760 says in that little gospel message, Aaron Matthew, is he 61 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:50,960 going to all the world? So I know it's hard to have a 62 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:54,640 conversation sometimes with people about your faith. 63 00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:57,760 And maybe you're nervous or you don't know how to do it. 64 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:00,920 And you, you learn as you come here how to share your faith. 65 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:03,680 But this is a real simple thing. You're standing in a 66 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:07,080 supermarket, you're bored, you're impatient, and you see 67 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:10,520 someone in front of you and you strike up a conversation and 68 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:13,000 they they're sharing their life with you or whatever. 69 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:15,120 They're just talking about whatever they're going through. 70 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:18,240 You have an opportunity to say, hey, you know, I go to this 71 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:21,959 church called Calvary Chapel. They have a radio station. 72 00:04:21,959 --> 00:04:24,480 You can listen to it and hear good news. 73 00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:26,000 Everybody needs to hear good news. 74 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:29,160 And there's AQR code. You can find out more about it 75 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:30,920 and see messages and all that kind of stuff. 76 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:33,560 I like to invite you sometime. It's real simple. 77 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:35,640 So I have a pile of them on my shirt. 78 00:04:35,640 --> 00:04:38,440 So if I'm driving through Starbucks, hey, here's 1 here 79 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:41,440 and you're going through Chick-fil-A, here's 1 here. 80 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:46,840 Do me a favour, do the Lord a favour, bless him by taking some 81 00:04:46,840 --> 00:04:50,800 of these and passing them out and inviting people. 82 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:53,240 And if we do that, one of these days, this place won't have 83 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:56,560 enough room to fill the people. And that's what God wants. 84 00:04:56,560 --> 00:05:00,160 He wants to fill his church with people that desire to know him 85 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:03,040 and to follow him. So this is a great little tool. 86 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:06,480 OK, I don't know about how many times you've been around and 87 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:08,120 said, boy, I wish I had something to give, something to 88 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:10,600 tell them about the church, where it's at, what time it is. 89 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:12,640 I can't remember all that stuff. You know, I'm the pastor. 90 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:14,040 I don't even know what time at the time. 91 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:17,160 But anyway, you are invited to Calvary Chapel. 92 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:20,400 So grab some of those, maybe take 3 this week and pray and 93 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:27,600 say, Lord, give me 3 like arrangements or providential 94 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:30,640 meetings of people you want me to give these to. 95 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:33,520 And I guarantee the Lord will give you an opportunity to give 96 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:36,040 them out. OK, so let's pray. 97 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:38,320 Father God, we thank you today for your word. 98 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:41,160 We thank you for the privilege we have to be together here. 99 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:45,280 And Lord, we pray for the people that are listening live on Grace 100 00:05:45,280 --> 00:05:48,480 FM even now, people who are tuned into YouTube. 101 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:52,720 Lord, we pray you would bless all of them and bring fruit from 102 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:55,760 your teaching today and the lives of your people and your 103 00:05:55,760 --> 00:05:57,920 church. And we pray all these things in 104 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:03,520 Jesus name, Amen. So we are in First Corinthians 105 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:09,320 chapter 12 continuing where I had left off several weeks ago 106 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:13,800 before we were away on vacation at the beach. 107 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:20,680 And the first first chapter 12 verse one, it says Now 108 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:24,520 concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to 109 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:27,520 be ignorant. So this is a heads up from the 110 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:29,240 Lord. He doesn't want us to be 111 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:32,200 unknowing about spiritual gifting. 112 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:36,400 This is very important and you may or may not know what your 113 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:39,240 spiritual gifts are. Every one of you have at least 114 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:41,400 one. Some of you may have more than 115 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:44,600 one, and the only way you can really get to know what your 116 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:49,400 spiritual gifts are is to begin to dip your feet in the water to 117 00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:53,840 find out maybe where you fit in the body of the church, what 118 00:06:53,840 --> 00:06:56,680 type of ministries that are available, things you can get 119 00:06:56,680 --> 00:06:59,400 involved in. Laurie and Paul are away this 120 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:02,760 weekend on their vacation and no drummer today. 121 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:07,920 So all we need is a drummer for people who only have a beat. 122 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:11,960 You remember who sang that flying the family stones you got 123 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:14,480 you win. I'll give you one of these cards 124 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:16,160 when you leave here. You get a prize. 125 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:20,160 But anyway, if you know how to play drums and I mean if you 126 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:25,360 know how to play drums, let let our worship leader Gina know So 127 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:27,080 when Paul is in here, you can fill in. 128 00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:30,960 OK, there's other worship opportunities, there's sound 129 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:34,360 room opportunities, there's opportunities in kids ministry, 130 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:37,760 and there's opportunities and things that we don't even know 131 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:40,920 yet or even thought about yet. You might have an idea of a new 132 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:43,080 ministry you believe the Lord wants you to start. 133 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:47,560 And there's no bureaucracy here, no hoops to be jumping through, 134 00:07:48,040 --> 00:07:50,760 no groups of people. You got to sit down and get 135 00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:53,240 judged by you to say, hey, I want to do this. 136 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:56,240 I have a heart to do this. We have a sister here that's 137 00:07:56,240 --> 00:07:59,680 helping us with social media right now and she's very excited 138 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:02,320 about raise your raise your hand Brenda back there. 139 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:07,440 And she's a newer believer and she came out of the Catholic 140 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:11,080 Church and she's finding something special here in her 141 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:14,480 life because of the word of God. And she, she's getting getting 142 00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:17,360 used to getting used to our worship, though our worship's 143 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:20,240 different than a Catholic Church because like we go on and on. 144 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:22,400 So she comes in a little late, but that's OK. 145 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:24,600 You know, she catches part of it. 146 00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:27,600 But she's her and Kevin and others are working with the 147 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:30,840 social media now to let people know that's another way of 148 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:33,120 evangelism. So if you, if you know how to do 149 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:39,240 Facebook, Twitter, YouTube X all these things I don't know 150 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:43,840 anything about ask Brenda or tell her you want to get 151 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:46,520 involved in helping get the word out about Calvary Chapel. 152 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:50,480 That would be awesome. But spiritual gifts are 153 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:57,240 something that you have to have faith to ask the Lord to show 154 00:08:57,240 --> 00:09:02,800 you what he created you for and why he made you a son or a 155 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:05,600 daughter of his. Not to just sit and listen to 156 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:08,320 messages week in and week out. I mean, that's important to hear 157 00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:12,400 the word, but how can you get mobilized and actively involved 158 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:16,480 in the preordained calling of God upon your life? 159 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:20,400 And this church believes in giving people the opportunity to 160 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:23,880 use their gifting. Years ago, I had to do Sunday 161 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:27,000 morning and we did Sunday nights and we did Wednesday nights. 162 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:29,920 And every time there was a teaching, I had to be the one to 163 00:09:29,920 --> 00:09:32,960 do it. And I I don't want to be the one 164 00:09:32,960 --> 00:09:36,000 that has to do it all the time because that's not sustainable. 165 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:41,160 God created men and women with spiritual gifts to serve in the 166 00:09:41,160 --> 00:09:43,240 ministry to use their teaching abilities. 167 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:46,400 And Wednesday nights we have 5 different men that are gifted to 168 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:49,080 teach through the Old Testament. What a blessing. 169 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:53,640 We have women Bible studies. We have a men Bible study on 170 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:55,760 Tuesday night. On Tuesday mornings we have 171 00:09:55,920 --> 00:09:58,040 women's studies over here. Sunday morning. 172 00:09:58,040 --> 00:10:00,560 We have all these gatherings and opportunities. 173 00:10:00,560 --> 00:10:04,280 A Bible study at a Home group that started last Friday night 174 00:10:04,280 --> 00:10:05,640 at the Fred and Mary Ellen's home. 175 00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:10,840 It's just so exciting for me to see after all these years of 176 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:15,640 ministry, the body of Christ actually working and and Deb, I, 177 00:10:15,640 --> 00:10:18,840 I heard amazing things about what the Lord did at that 178 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:22,040 women's retreat. Cindy said you had like notes 179 00:10:22,040 --> 00:10:25,120 all over the table and he's like, are we going to have to 180 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:27,520 listen to all these pages and you only read a couple things 181 00:10:27,520 --> 00:10:30,320 she said, but it came from her heart, the flow of the Holy 182 00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:34,520 Spirit through your life to give whatever the Lord wanted to 183 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:37,560 give, give to those women and they were truly blessed. 184 00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:41,920 I know my wife was for sure, and so take advantage of these 185 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:43,800 things. This men's retreat coming up in 186 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:47,920 a couple weeks, that is going to be an awesome, awesome time out 187 00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:49,960 in Ligonier. I don't stay overnight. 188 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:52,080 So guys, sometimes you don't want to stay overnight. 189 00:10:52,080 --> 00:10:56,320 I drive up Friday evening, listen, go home, sleep at home, 190 00:10:56,560 --> 00:10:59,200 get up Saturday morning, come back and then leave Saturday 191 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:03,240 afternoon when it's over. So please pray about attending 192 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:05,320 that because if you go, it'll change your life. 193 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:08,800 The guy that's teaching this year is a friend of mine from 194 00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:12,160 Colorado, Ed Taylor. He teaches on our station. 195 00:11:12,160 --> 00:11:14,040 I talked to him on the phone periodically. 196 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:17,560 He has a radio station like ours, Grace FM, wonderful Bible 197 00:11:17,560 --> 00:11:20,840 teacher, came out of cocaine addiction, came out of running 198 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:23,480 around on his wife, came out of all kinds of stuff. 199 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:26,160 And the Lord got a hold of his life and saved him. 200 00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:29,520 So you've got a tremendous, tremendous testimony to share 201 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:31,600 with us. So how Jesus changed his life. 202 00:11:31,960 --> 00:11:34,320 But you might be here today. OK, spiritual gifts. 203 00:11:34,320 --> 00:11:37,520 What's this have to do with me? It has everything to do with 204 00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:38,920 you. And the Lord doesn't want you to 205 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:41,920 not be aware of the fact that you have something special He's 206 00:11:41,920 --> 00:11:46,360 given you to serve the Lord. But if you don't test the water, 207 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:49,920 if you don't step out by faith, even though you might not be 208 00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:52,960 sure that's where you're being called to, you'll never know. 209 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:57,800 But if you step out by faith and you find what it is God's gifted 210 00:11:57,800 --> 00:12:00,600 you for, you'll never turn back again. 211 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:03,360 You love what it is he's told you to do. 212 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:05,520 And it's not a burden, it's a joy. 213 00:12:05,920 --> 00:12:08,320 It's no pressure. It comes naturally. 214 00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:14,280 And so there's, there's no expectations of me or Lewis or 215 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:17,640 anybody else in the church in regard to what you do or what 216 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:19,760 you don't do. Just the fact that you show up 217 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:22,360 on a Sunday, that's the gift of helps. 218 00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:25,800 You're helping me be encouraged today by you just being here, 219 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:29,880 wanting to hear God's word. When you're able to give, that's 220 00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:32,760 another gift of of helps and gift of giving. 221 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:36,320 That's part of what makes all this work on a week in and week 222 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:38,920 out, the daily basis here at Calvary Chapel. 223 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:41,600 So he doesn't want us to be ignorant. 224 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:44,840 And down in verse four, he says there's diversities of gifts. 225 00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:48,160 I covered this the last time I was reviewing a little bit, but 226 00:12:48,160 --> 00:12:50,400 the same Spirit. So there's all these different 227 00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:52,800 kind of gifts that we're going to talk about here in a moment, 228 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:56,360 but it's the one Holy Spirit that gives these gifts. 229 00:12:56,360 --> 00:12:58,760 I don't give him. Lewis doesn't. 230 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:01,680 No man gives them. This is from God, the Holy 231 00:13:01,680 --> 00:13:04,360 Spirit. There's differences of 232 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:08,720 ministries and I could go on and on about all the various things 233 00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:10,560 that happened here. You're, you're aware of them 234 00:13:10,560 --> 00:13:13,880 through the constant contact and the announcements of all the 235 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:15,720 things that you can get involved in. 236 00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:19,280 But it's the same Lord. There's diversities of 237 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:21,760 activities, all kind of different things going on. 238 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:24,600 You can't be involved in everything, but you can't be 239 00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:27,680 involved in some things that you have a heart and a passion for. 240 00:13:27,960 --> 00:13:30,920 I know Operation Christmas Child is going to come up pretty soon 241 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:33,080 and Kerry's very passionate about that. 242 00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:36,360 I'm so thankful that she spearheads that because that's 243 00:13:36,360 --> 00:13:39,880 her gift and the passion and Michael, but others have that 244 00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:42,440 same gift and they get on board with her to help her. 245 00:13:42,440 --> 00:13:46,480 And that's a form of missions around the world with Franklin 246 00:13:46,560 --> 00:13:50,040 Graham's organization. And we we had a ton of little 247 00:13:50,040 --> 00:13:52,280 boxes that went out last year because of that. 248 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:55,680 But even though there's all these different activities, it 249 00:13:55,680 --> 00:13:59,920 says it's the same God who works All in all. 250 00:13:59,920 --> 00:14:04,320 So this is all by God's grace. These things occur verse 7. 251 00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:09,040 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for 252 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:12,960 the profit of all. That's where I want to hang out 253 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:17,800 for a little bit. The gift that you are given 254 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:23,400 isn't to elevate you or to make you feel important or more 255 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:28,200 special than maybe someone else. That's that's Father's removed 256 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:30,720 point of why we got these spiritual gifts. 257 00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:35,640 It's given to each one of us to profit other people. 258 00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:40,320 So whatever your gift is, when you serve in it, it's blessing 259 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:43,080 other people. I think of John and Kelly and 260 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:46,640 they go to the to the nursing home ministry several times a 261 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:49,160 month. That's obviously a gift of 262 00:14:49,160 --> 00:14:52,840 theirs of they wouldn't be doing it, a passion to reach these 263 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:55,360 older people. I know some people in the church 264 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:58,240 have joined up with them to go with them when they're able to. 265 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:02,200 That's something that is endless because those people in the 266 00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:05,520 nursing homes usually have no one seeing them or caring about 267 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:08,000 them, not even family seeing them. 268 00:15:08,640 --> 00:15:12,880 And when they bring their little dog in with them and they bring 269 00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:17,440 the, the worship and the word in it, it changes their lives. 270 00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:18,720 It brightens them up, doesn't it? 271 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:23,240 John and Kelly and the women's breakfast that Kelly has once a 272 00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:25,920 month. She does that not to show off 273 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:27,840 their beautiful home, which is beautiful. 274 00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:32,320 She does it to show off her beautiful Savior Jesus, who she 275 00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:36,240 who she loves and she wants to share that with you women. 276 00:15:36,240 --> 00:15:39,840 So all these opportunities to get engaged and develop 277 00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:43,240 friendships and to and to get to know the Lord deeper and to get 278 00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:45,680 to know one another deeper as well. 279 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:50,000 It says for the one is given the word of wisdom through the 280 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:54,160 Spirit to another, the word of knowledge through the same 281 00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:57,680 spirit. It's taken me a lot of years as 282 00:15:57,680 --> 00:16:04,240 a Christian to move away from what is called Cares mania, not 283 00:16:04,240 --> 00:16:08,200 Karismata, which is the real empowering and outpouring of 284 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:12,400 spiritual gifts, which is biblical and supernatural, but 285 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:16,800 presumption and deception and false teaching in regard to 286 00:16:16,800 --> 00:16:22,440 spiritual gifts. And the word of wisdom and the 287 00:16:22,440 --> 00:16:25,480 word of knowledge isn't something that has to be 288 00:16:25,480 --> 00:16:28,440 trumpeted. That what I'm going to say right 289 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:31,840 now, I believe is a word of wisdom from God or a word of 290 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:35,360 knowledge from God. Pastor Chuck used to say be 291 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:39,040 supernatural. Naturally, you don't have to act 292 00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:44,160 like some TV evangelist roaming around the stage pushing people 293 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:47,800 over and slaying people in the Spirit to think that God's alive 294 00:16:47,800 --> 00:16:52,320 or is real when the over the Holy Spirit's moving through his 295 00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:56,080 Spirit who dwells in us through the Word of God in the midst of 296 00:16:56,200 --> 00:17:00,960 a group of people. You don't have to advertise 297 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:04,960 that. It's a phenomena that any guy 298 00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:08,800 can do. And many times when these 299 00:17:08,800 --> 00:17:12,680 giftings are working in US, we're not even aware of it 300 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:16,680 unless someone comes up and says, and I'll hear this once in 301 00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:20,640 a while when people leave, did my wife call you or did you read 302 00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:22,640 my mail? Or like, I'm like, what are you 303 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:24,839 talking about? And it's like, you were talking 304 00:17:24,839 --> 00:17:27,400 to me in there and I'm thinking like, I don't even really know 305 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:28,359 who you are. What do you mean? 306 00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:31,840 I was talking to you. I heard God speak to me through 307 00:17:31,840 --> 00:17:34,160 what you were saying. Well, praise God. 308 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:37,160 That's like what we're praying will happen, but we're we're 309 00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:38,720 clueless of that. We're just going through the 310 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:42,680 Bible simply verse by verse. And God is using it in your life 311 00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:47,560 specifically in a way that I'm, I'm not even aware of, right? 312 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:50,400 I just want to do what he tells me to do and be faithful to 313 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:53,800 cover the, the text and the information and, and the rest is 314 00:17:53,800 --> 00:17:56,240 up between you and the Lord, what he's going to do with that 315 00:17:56,240 --> 00:18:00,680 with you. But the word of wisdom is when 316 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:03,480 someone comes to you and you're talking with them about 317 00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:06,640 something and, and it's complicated and they don't know 318 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:11,120 what to do and you really don't know what to recommend either, 319 00:18:11,120 --> 00:18:13,400 but you're waiting on the Lord. Maybe you're praying as you're 320 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:18,160 talking to them, and then all of a sudden the Lord says something 321 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:21,880 in your conscience, your heart, your mind that you communicate 322 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:25,560 to them, and all of a sudden their countenance changes and 323 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:28,760 the smile comes on their face. Why didn't I think of that? 324 00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:32,040 That's amazing. That's how that should be 325 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:35,680 handled. That's God's wisdom being poured 326 00:18:35,680 --> 00:18:41,880 out through US periodically, the word of knowledge. 327 00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:52,520 That's really amazing because God is giving you a sensitivity 328 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:59,920 about something in someone's life that you're just made aware 329 00:18:59,920 --> 00:19:03,200 of. You have no evidence of the 330 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:07,880 problem or the sin or the issue whatever, or the struggle or the 331 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:10,160 heartache that that person's going through. 332 00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:14,280 But perhaps you just say, you know, the Lord's laid you on my 333 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:17,760 heart and I wanted to share this with you. 334 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:23,120 I don't know if this is from Him or not, but I believe such and 335 00:19:23,120 --> 00:19:27,360 such is happening in your life. And all the sudden they look at 336 00:19:27,360 --> 00:19:30,200 you and they think, how in the world did you know that? 337 00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:37,280 What's the Lord, His knowledge? It's imparted to you at times to 338 00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:41,440 say things, and you can't command these things to happen. 339 00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:45,640 You can't make them happen. It's according to how He wants 340 00:19:45,640 --> 00:19:48,440 it to happen, how the Holy Spirit does these things. 341 00:19:49,160 --> 00:19:55,440 He gives these things out severally as He wills through 342 00:19:55,440 --> 00:19:57,880 the same Spirit to another faith. 343 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:01,760 Faith. How much faith you need to get 344 00:20:01,760 --> 00:20:05,280 by every day? How much faith you need to 345 00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:08,040 believe God for impossible situations? 346 00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:14,200 How much faith do you need when the diagnosis isn't good or the 347 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:18,640 marriage is beginning to fall apart or the children are going 348 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:20,760 awayward or making wrong decisions? 349 00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:26,640 How much faith do you need to overcome and to be able to walk 350 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:29,480 on the waves and not sink because of the waves? 351 00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:34,640 That's a special impartation of God to to believe God in 352 00:20:34,640 --> 00:20:38,720 impossible situations and still be able to be OK. 353 00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:45,440 He tells us without faith it's impossible to please him, for 354 00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:49,760 those who come to God must first believe that he is and that he's 355 00:20:49,760 --> 00:20:52,440 a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. 356 00:20:54,040 --> 00:20:58,800 The man in the Gospels said to the Lord when he was challenged 357 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:03,560 with a very difficult situation, he said, Lord, I believe helped 358 00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:06,320 by unbelief. And we all have times of 359 00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:08,560 unbelief. Even even though we know God's 360 00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:15,640 completely faithful, we need to have him empower us with this 361 00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:19,960 kind of faith that isn't human. It's it's supernatural. 362 00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:24,320 How can you trust God when everything seems to be falling 363 00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:27,560 apart? That's the gift of faith. 364 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:34,000 Faith is believing God for things in ministry too. 365 00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:40,960 Cindy and I-30 years ago had a heart and a vision to plant a 366 00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:45,080 Calvary Chapel in Greensburg. We had no real experience. 367 00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:47,800 Little did we know what we were getting into at the time. 368 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:51,200 If we knew way back then what we would have to go through or 369 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:53,400 experience, I would have said no thanks, Lord. 370 00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:56,280 That's why it's good that the Lord doesn't show you everything 371 00:21:56,280 --> 00:22:00,000 in advance, but He gave us enough faith to believe Him to. 372 00:22:00,360 --> 00:22:04,320 For a church plant, I'm very modest little humble place at 373 00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:07,920 the YWCA. We would sit, sit up and take 374 00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:11,680 down for 12 years, people coming, people going back and 375 00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:16,480 forth, all that kind of stuff. And, and man, I'll tell you, you 376 00:22:16,480 --> 00:22:20,240 know it, it does never seem like it would develop or work out or 377 00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:23,480 whatever. And the day he's made this this 378 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:28,160 place with you wonderful people with a full power radio station 379 00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:31,200 with a wonderful facility that we never dreamed would be 380 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:33,920 possible. But more importantly bringing 381 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:37,160 gifted people and raising them up in the ministry to serve the 382 00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:40,240 Lord here. This not my ministry. 383 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:43,880 It's his ministry and it's your ministry as you serve him in 384 00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:51,360 this ministry to another gifts of healing. 385 00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:57,760 Now, in the Apostolic days, the apostles had supernatural 386 00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:02,000 capabilities that no one else has ever had since they've left 387 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:09,080 the earth. Apostolic anointing and giftings 388 00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:15,680 to bring miraculous healings and to raise people from the dead. 389 00:23:17,120 --> 00:23:19,640 And you read in the book of the Acts the things that were 390 00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:24,880 accomplished to the hands of Peter and Paul and others. 391 00:23:26,800 --> 00:23:32,000 Healings are something that we all want to see manifest in our 392 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:36,840 lives whenever we're diagnosed with a serious illness or 393 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:41,480 disease or tragedy or accident, whatever. 394 00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:45,480 And we would love just to be able to go into a hospital room 395 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:51,160 and lay hands on someone and see them instantaneously healed and 396 00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:53,680 raised up where they don't need the medicine anymore. 397 00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:58,600 They don't need the doctors anymore and occasions that still 398 00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:01,040 help. That still happens on occasions, 399 00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:09,040 but the degree of it happening is, let's say less manifest as 400 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:14,160 it was in the book of the Acts. But nonetheless it still occurs. 401 00:24:15,360 --> 00:24:19,040 And anybody that would say that they have the gift of healing 402 00:24:19,040 --> 00:24:24,440 would really be presumptuous. The people on TV, whether it's 403 00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:26,880 Benny Hinn and these kind of people, I mean, they, they've 404 00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:31,040 made multi millions of dollars taking the word of God out of 405 00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:35,520 context and making people believe that if they gave an 406 00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:38,160 offer, if they did this an offer, if they had enough faith 407 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:41,640 that they would have these miraculous healings, their sight 408 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:45,480 would be restored or paralysis would be taken away and they'd 409 00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:48,320 be able to walk again on and on and on. 410 00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:53,080 And so people look at these things on TV and they get their 411 00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:56,200 hopes up and they're desperate and they'll go from one church 412 00:24:56,200 --> 00:24:59,480 to the next church to the next preacher to the next preacher 413 00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:04,040 and trying to find Jesus somewhere that can do a miracle 414 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:09,720 for them through a human being. But that isn't what was taught 415 00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:12,720 in the Gospels. None of these things I'm talking 416 00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:15,800 about Jesus didn't specifically cover these things in any of the 417 00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:19,000 Gospels. These became Apostolic teachings 418 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:23,720 of Paul and Peter and James and John began to discuss in the 419 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:29,200 early inceptions of the church, but they gave us another 420 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:33,240 methodology for healing and that's in James chapter 5. 421 00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:40,960 It's not to get all the people all hyped up through worship and 422 00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:43,600 have have me or Lewis or someone come up. 423 00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:47,560 I I sense God wants to heal someone today of diabetes. 424 00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:50,080 Come on up here. I, the Lord put it on my heart 425 00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:52,440 and I believe it, you know, on and on and on. 426 00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:55,200 Instead of people come up with the diabetes or whatever and, 427 00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:58,800 and, and everything's going on and, and, and you're, you're 428 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:01,320 healed in Jesus name. And then they're, everybody's 429 00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:04,600 excited and they go home and they go to the doctor the next 430 00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:08,280 week to get the, the blood tests and, and what's up? 431 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:10,880 Well, are you taking your insulin? 432 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:13,600 Well, no, I stopped taking my insulin and I'm healed. 433 00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:16,520 Well, according to your blood tests, you, you have sugar 434 00:26:16,520 --> 00:26:18,520 diabetes. And if you don't take your 435 00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:25,560 medicine, you're going to die. The presumption has to be 436 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:32,800 justified by a medical doctor that can give the clarification 437 00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:35,080 that there's been something that's occurred, it's 438 00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:38,240 miraculous. And you no longer have the 439 00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:39,880 cancer. I don't understand it. 440 00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:42,080 You no longer have the clogged artery. 441 00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:44,640 I don't understand it. But you don't need the medicine. 442 00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:47,960 And then you tell them, well, I was praying the Lord would heal 443 00:26:47,960 --> 00:26:52,280 me and maybe he healed you just through your own prayers and 444 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:54,280 your own desperation before the Lord. 445 00:26:54,600 --> 00:26:58,120 Maybe your husband laid hands on you and really prayed and or the 446 00:26:58,120 --> 00:27:00,920 wife laid hands on the husband or the children or whatever. 447 00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:04,320 And it has nothing to do with the service at 10:30 on a Sunday 448 00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:06,840 morning. It's the supernatural of God 449 00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:10,680 working through these giftings, through his people, the body of 450 00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:14,840 Christ. And he tells us in James 5, if 451 00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:18,880 any are sick among you, let them call upon the elders of the 452 00:27:18,880 --> 00:27:25,160 church that they would come and be anointed with oil, which is 453 00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:30,400 symbolic of the Holy Spirit, and that they would confess their 454 00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:35,360 faults if they have a sin that they're not turning from. 455 00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:40,920 So they come up and, and we have the elders and, and the persons 456 00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:45,680 confidentially saying, you know, I'm, I'm in a unhealthy 457 00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:49,400 relationship that isn't of God and I'm repenting of it. 458 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:51,280 And I, I want to, I want the Lord to forget. 459 00:27:51,360 --> 00:27:56,400 You know, they're dealing with this according to James 5 and 460 00:27:56,400 --> 00:28:02,040 the Bible says that the prayer of faith will save the sick and 461 00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:05,440 that sometimes means physical healing, but it definitely 462 00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:09,160 always means spiritual healings and reconciliation to the Lord. 463 00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:12,640 And that's something that feel free to avail yourself to. 464 00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:16,600 We, we don't have healing services here, but we are 465 00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:20,720 willing as elders to do what the Bible says in regard to the fact 466 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:22,520 that if people are sick, we will do this. 467 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:25,480 But you have to want that, right? 468 00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:29,080 You have to desire and you have to call upon the elders of the 469 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:33,080 church to do that. And sometimes that's like the 470 00:28:33,080 --> 00:28:35,320 last stop. Maybe you've been to the doctor. 471 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:38,160 Maybe you've been with the medicine and you've, you've 472 00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:42,600 tried all these things and, and nothing's working and, and you, 473 00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:44,880 you, you want to give it a shot and see, well, maybe the Lord 474 00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:48,120 will do something with this, this prayer of faith according 475 00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:51,080 to James Far. But there's no guarantee that 476 00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:54,400 you'll be healed physically, but there is a guarantee that you're 477 00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:58,800 going to be forgiven of the sin. And sometimes the sin is what 478 00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:01,080 manifests the illness and the disease. 479 00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:03,440 Not every sickness is caused because of sin. 480 00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:08,120 Through the fall. We're getting older and our 481 00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:11,240 bodies start wearing out. I wish they didn't. 482 00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:14,560 I wish someone had the ability to lay hands on me and make me 483 00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:17,000 feel like I was 20 again. Right? 484 00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:20,800 But that's not reality. The outward man perishes. 485 00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:25,280 The Bible says the inward man's renewed day by day. 486 00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:30,880 But these gifts of healing are still relevant and evident and 487 00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:33,920 miraculous. By the same capital S Holy 488 00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:37,240 Spirit to another. The working of miracles. 489 00:29:38,240 --> 00:29:42,680 How I wish there was more miracles that I could see 490 00:29:42,680 --> 00:29:49,680 occurring in the lives of desperate people, people in our 491 00:29:49,680 --> 00:29:52,720 own church. I see them suffer. 492 00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:57,000 I don't want to see you suffer, brother and your wife. 493 00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:02,360 I wish I could touch you and all the sudden you're climbing 494 00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:09,440 ladders again, you know? But I know their eyes are on 495 00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:11,320 Jesus. Regardless of whether they get 496 00:30:11,320 --> 00:30:13,960 healed now, they know they're going to definitely be healed 497 00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:17,000 when they go into the presence of God one day. 498 00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:23,840 But never stop praying for a miracle. 499 00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:31,480 You can pray for a miracle, and you never know what the Lord 500 00:30:31,480 --> 00:30:40,360 might choose to do. To another prophecy and this 501 00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:44,040 idea of prophecy isn't so much being able to foretell the 502 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:47,880 future course. There are these times in our 503 00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:53,400 lives that the Lord gives us insight into something and a 504 00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:57,120 life of a brother or sister or husband some I was on vacation 505 00:30:57,120 --> 00:31:01,640 and a pastor was with me and his wife and Cindy and, and as he 506 00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:04,280 was praying, he said, the Lord has given me a vision right now 507 00:31:04,440 --> 00:31:08,200 of your life. I'm thinking, OK, I hope it's a 508 00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:11,560 good one. I like the good visions, not the 509 00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:14,080 bad visions, but it was a good vision. 510 00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:17,880 He said, I see you like a, a fish going into the ocean and he 511 00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:21,720 knows I love the ocean swimming and you're going down way, way 512 00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:25,160 deep. And it was sort of symbolic of, 513 00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:28,120 of what he thought, you know, my, my life of wanting to go 514 00:31:28,120 --> 00:31:30,920 deeper with God, which I do want to go deeper with God. 515 00:31:31,560 --> 00:31:35,160 And it says all of a sudden you ran into the school of fishes 516 00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:38,480 and they were all colorful and they were flying everywhere and 517 00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:41,120 they were jumping up and down and swimming all around. 518 00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:44,600 And that's probably a picture of the privilege I have to serve 519 00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:49,360 you guys, your lives that are being impacted through the word 520 00:31:49,360 --> 00:31:55,240 of God by Jesus Christ. Watch out for people that tell 521 00:31:55,240 --> 00:32:01,520 you that Jesus is coming in October 10th of 2025. 522 00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:07,400 There's so many books that have been written I'm so weary of how 523 00:32:07,400 --> 00:32:09,960 do you want to hear it? I know he's coming back. 524 00:32:09,960 --> 00:32:11,880 He said he's coming back. That's good enough for me. 525 00:32:11,880 --> 00:32:14,160 I don't need to know the date or the time. 526 00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:16,800 I just better make sure I'm ready when he's coming back. 527 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:24,720 That I'm doing what it is He's called me to do to another. 528 00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:31,640 The discerning of spirits to be able to know because of your 529 00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:34,600 grounding on the Word of God, what you're hearing is biblical 530 00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:39,080 versus false teaching. And there's a ton of false 531 00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:43,360 teaching out there today. And if you're not grounded in 532 00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:45,480 the truth of the Word, you're going to be deceived. 533 00:32:45,480 --> 00:32:48,520 You're going to be shifted, you're going to be moving by 534 00:32:48,520 --> 00:32:51,960 every wind of doctrine. You're going to be unstable in 535 00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:55,400 your walk with the Lord in your relationship with Jesus because 536 00:32:56,240 --> 00:33:02,840 you don't have discernment. But discerning of spirits is to 537 00:33:02,840 --> 00:33:05,120 be able to recognize that there's something that's not 538 00:33:05,120 --> 00:33:08,800 right there. Maybe it's someone you meet and 539 00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:11,320 they're telling you this and that and they're trying to give 540 00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:14,200 you this great picture of how wonderful they are and, and 541 00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:17,680 everything is perfect in their lives and they want to serve in 542 00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:20,800 the church and they want to do this and they want to you know 543 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:22,520 you. That's why we have like a six 544 00:33:22,520 --> 00:33:25,120 month waiting period for people. They want to get involved in 545 00:33:25,120 --> 00:33:27,440 ministry. Make sure this is a church you 546 00:33:27,440 --> 00:33:30,880 want to be in, but more importantly, make sure that we 547 00:33:30,880 --> 00:33:34,000 know each other. The Bible says, I know those who 548 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:37,360 labor among you so you don't make a wrong choice, a wrong 549 00:33:37,360 --> 00:33:40,080 decision. And in relationships, when 550 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:43,640 you're dating, you need to have discernment to know like, is 551 00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:46,720 this person really brought into my life from the Lord or is this 552 00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:51,480 like a real problem here? And most of the time when we 553 00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:54,320 first meet someone we're infatuated with or we're 554 00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:58,520 attracted to our bodies, what's driving us. 555 00:33:58,520 --> 00:34:01,920 It isn't like listening to the Lord to give us a heads up like 556 00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:03,480 this. This isn't a good thing. 557 00:34:06,160 --> 00:34:09,120 So we need to ask the Lord for that discernment. 558 00:34:09,120 --> 00:34:12,880 And I believe we all can be given discernment from the Lord 559 00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:14,360 through being grounded in the Word. 560 00:34:14,360 --> 00:34:18,440 But there are some people that really have the ability to 0 in 561 00:34:18,440 --> 00:34:23,199 on evil, evil kind of spirits to another, different kind of 562 00:34:23,199 --> 00:34:27,760 tongues to another, the interpretation of tongues. 563 00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:32,280 This is a real controversial subject, more so today than it 564 00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:37,840 was back in that day. The Bible wasn't codified yet in 565 00:34:37,840 --> 00:34:41,440 the sense that it is now. So when they had meetings, it 566 00:34:41,440 --> 00:34:45,000 would be someone who would speak by the Spirit of God and they 567 00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:48,560 would have to discern whether whatever, what is what is it 568 00:34:48,560 --> 00:34:52,000 that they were saying was tied into the teaching of the 569 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:55,400 apostles. And Corinth had all these 570 00:34:55,400 --> 00:34:59,400 spiritual gifts going on and it was a mess spiritually. 571 00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:03,280 People were angry with each other, they were bitter, they 572 00:35:03,280 --> 00:35:05,960 were unforgiving, they were immoral. 573 00:35:06,160 --> 00:35:11,040 They were like into drinking too much of the agape feast. 574 00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:14,920 They were into pride and following certain people and 575 00:35:14,920 --> 00:35:18,520 lifting others above other. And it was just a disaster. 576 00:35:19,320 --> 00:35:23,040 And the whole book of First Corinthians is correction as to 577 00:35:23,040 --> 00:35:28,320 the church getting back to what it needs to be and how it needs 578 00:35:28,320 --> 00:35:32,000 to function. In First Corinthians 13, which 579 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:36,360 we'll move into the next several weeks, is all about what's most 580 00:35:36,360 --> 00:35:39,960 important. And it isn't all these gifts I'm 581 00:35:39,960 --> 00:35:42,600 talking about. The most important thing is a 582 00:35:42,600 --> 00:35:48,240 manifestation of agape love toward one another, loving each 583 00:35:48,240 --> 00:35:57,080 other unconditionally, caring for one another, loving the Lord 584 00:35:57,080 --> 00:35:59,880 God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your 585 00:35:59,880 --> 00:36:04,480 mind, and loving your neighbors, yourself and those two 586 00:36:05,080 --> 00:36:07,560 commandments. The whole law is hinged 587 00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:10,880 together. And I was talking to someone 588 00:36:10,880 --> 00:36:13,840 recently had a meeting with them, younger brother who's 589 00:36:13,840 --> 00:36:16,880 digging into the Lord and really fun to be around. 590 00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:22,200 He said to me, we were talking about all this profound theology 591 00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:24,120 stuff and doctrine stuff and all that. 592 00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:27,160 And it's, it's fun to to have good conversations about that 593 00:36:27,160 --> 00:36:29,240 kind of stuff with people who are interested in it. 594 00:36:29,240 --> 00:36:32,080 But I said at the end of the day, though, like the most 595 00:36:32,080 --> 00:36:39,680 important thing is love, right? All we need is love. 596 00:36:41,160 --> 00:36:45,240 McCartney was on to something. But without Jesus, that Love's 597 00:36:45,280 --> 00:36:48,440 going to not hold up. You know, you can love 598 00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:52,080 supernaturally with the supernatural of love that God 599 00:36:52,080 --> 00:36:55,840 gives us, not human love because it can wear out quickly. 600 00:36:57,600 --> 00:37:04,600 But I said, why is it that, like, Christians so often have 601 00:37:04,600 --> 00:37:09,440 this ability to really know truth or know the Word and all 602 00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:12,680 that kind of stuff, and they can't love each other? 603 00:37:12,840 --> 00:37:18,960 Doesn't make sense, does it? Because Jesus said let's lay all 604 00:37:18,960 --> 00:37:27,040 that stuff aside for a moment. He said without love in First 605 00:37:27,040 --> 00:37:34,040 Corinthians 13, we're nothing clanging, gong, noisy cymbal, 606 00:37:34,040 --> 00:37:39,840 just a bunch of noise. And the thing that he said most 607 00:37:40,080 --> 00:37:48,040 profoundly was to all of us, by this people will know you're my 608 00:37:48,040 --> 00:37:54,120 disciples, not by these cards, but by the love you have for one 609 00:37:54,120 --> 00:38:00,120 another. The early missionaries when they 610 00:38:00,120 --> 00:38:05,480 would go into various countries in the Mideast, the pagans would 611 00:38:05,480 --> 00:38:09,280 say to people when they asked them about these followers of 612 00:38:09,280 --> 00:38:14,280 Jesus, they just say, oh, how these people love one another 613 00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:17,160 because they don't see that in the world. 614 00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:23,360 And unfortunately, so often in churches, church blitzes people 615 00:38:23,360 --> 00:38:25,600 leaving because someone hurt them or offended them. 616 00:38:25,600 --> 00:38:30,920 Or it's like love covers a multitude of sins, doesn't it? 617 00:38:32,320 --> 00:38:35,040 I want to learn to grow in the love of God. 618 00:38:35,040 --> 00:38:40,720 That's my heart's desire. I want to be able to love truly 619 00:38:40,720 --> 00:38:46,080 love enemies, not this because it says I'm supposed to, but 620 00:38:46,080 --> 00:38:51,880 because God's worked on my heart where now I can right and not 621 00:38:51,880 --> 00:38:58,000 remembering wrongs and not easily offended all that Chapter 622 00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:01,560 13, we get into it man. We could spend the rest of our 623 00:39:01,640 --> 00:39:06,880 history and as Christians in that chapter, but the tongues 624 00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:11,800 gift is temporal. It's fleeting. 625 00:39:12,440 --> 00:39:17,240 It's the last gift mentioned in order as far as significance and 626 00:39:17,240 --> 00:39:20,480 importance, but nonetheless, it is a gift. 627 00:39:21,120 --> 00:39:23,240 Some people have it, some people don't. 628 00:39:24,160 --> 00:39:27,080 Paul says later on that all people have all these gifts. 629 00:39:28,160 --> 00:39:33,720 Nope, they don't. So if you have a prayer language 630 00:39:33,720 --> 00:39:36,800 where you commune with God and it's supernatural and you've had 631 00:39:36,800 --> 00:39:41,080 it your whole Christian life, allow the Lord to use that in 632 00:39:41,080 --> 00:39:45,160 your life to build you up. We're not cessationist. 633 00:39:45,160 --> 00:39:48,840 Calvary Chapel is not a church group that would teach it all 634 00:39:48,840 --> 00:39:50,240 this. All the gifts are done. 635 00:39:51,200 --> 00:39:52,840 They aren't. There's no nothing in the 636 00:39:52,840 --> 00:39:54,840 Scripture that would indicate that they are done. 637 00:39:54,840 --> 00:39:59,840 But they're used differently. And some churches you go in and 638 00:39:59,840 --> 00:40:01,960 I've been in them where everybody's speaking in tongues 639 00:40:01,960 --> 00:40:03,880 at the same time. It's like insanity. 640 00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:06,360 What, what and what are these people doing here? 641 00:40:07,200 --> 00:40:09,840 Is there any like even if there was an interpreter, how would 642 00:40:09,840 --> 00:40:14,800 they interpret all this noise? And Paul gives real direction 643 00:40:14,800 --> 00:40:19,200 later on, like when the gift was used, there had to be a public 644 00:40:19,200 --> 00:40:21,960 manifestation, a gift. There had to be a public 645 00:40:21,960 --> 00:40:28,000 interpretation that would tie into what it was that the Lord 646 00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:32,840 was doing. But in all the years of my life 647 00:40:32,840 --> 00:40:36,680 at the pastors conferences and they've been miraculous in the 648 00:40:36,680 --> 00:40:40,520 word of God being taught so deeply and people worshipping 649 00:40:40,520 --> 00:40:46,680 and we, we never had anybody break into tongues wasn't 650 00:40:46,760 --> 00:40:52,200 important. But maybe people were praying in 651 00:40:52,200 --> 00:40:56,280 the Spirit prior to those conferences so that the Lord 652 00:40:56,280 --> 00:40:59,440 would really pour out His Spirit upon us as servants to be able 653 00:40:59,440 --> 00:41:02,880 to come back into the ministry and the places we're from and 654 00:41:02,880 --> 00:41:06,600 the towns and the cities and carry on in the work that God's 655 00:41:06,600 --> 00:41:11,760 called us to do. So that's just the beginning of 656 00:41:12,080 --> 00:41:15,560 this subject. And some of you are sleeping, 657 00:41:15,560 --> 00:41:20,120 which is good. Something wrong with that. 658 00:41:20,680 --> 00:41:24,920 So the worship team can come forward now and we'll call it a 659 00:41:24,920 --> 00:41:28,560 day. All right, Enjoy the Steeler 660 00:41:28,560 --> 00:41:33,000 game today, guys. See how Aaron Rodgers does 661 00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:35,160 against his former team. That'll be interesting. 662 00:41:36,120 --> 00:41:41,320 And then watch the US Open at 4:00 with the guy from Spain 663 00:41:41,640 --> 00:41:43,240 playing. Playing Sinner. 664 00:41:43,240 --> 00:41:45,120 What a name? Can you imagine a professional 665 00:41:45,320 --> 00:41:46,600 tennis player? What's your name? 666 00:41:46,640 --> 00:41:51,040 Last name, Sinner. I don't want a name like that, 667 00:41:51,040 --> 00:41:53,920 but he's a really good, really good tennis player. 668 00:41:54,600 --> 00:41:56,520 So let me say a prayer. We're going to take the Lord's 669 00:41:56,520 --> 00:42:09,640 Supper. Oh Lord, we're so grateful for 670 00:42:09,640 --> 00:42:14,600 your Holy Spirit, how you teach us, how you deepen us, how you 671 00:42:15,120 --> 00:42:18,880 work in our hearts, refine us, cleanse us over and over and 672 00:42:18,880 --> 00:42:21,720 over. You forgive us continually. 673 00:42:21,720 --> 00:42:25,120 Lord, there's no one like you in the universe and the, and the, 674 00:42:25,520 --> 00:42:29,640 and the whole creation that has this kind of capacity to love 675 00:42:29,640 --> 00:42:33,360 and forgive over and over and over again, forgiving for the 676 00:42:33,360 --> 00:42:38,000 same offense. Jesus said 70 * 7. 677 00:42:39,520 --> 00:42:42,560 We're lucky if we can forgive someone once, let alone twice. 678 00:42:44,280 --> 00:42:46,600 God work on us and make us like you, Jesus. 679 00:42:46,600 --> 00:42:50,120 That's the purpose of your church, to conform us to your 680 00:42:50,120 --> 00:42:53,200 image and likeness to make us more like you and we know you're 681 00:42:53,200 --> 00:42:55,120 doing that and we thank you for it. 682 00:42:55,960 --> 00:42:58,360 We yield to you today, Lord, we surrender. 683 00:42:58,360 --> 00:43:01,440 If there's anyone here that doesn't know you, Lord, we pray 684 00:43:01,440 --> 00:43:04,440 today that they would say, Lord Jesus, I want to know you. 685 00:43:04,920 --> 00:43:09,320 I want you to forgive me of my sins and come into my life and 686 00:43:09,320 --> 00:43:13,320 save me and change me. Only you can do that. 687 00:43:13,320 --> 00:43:16,200 Lord. If there's prodigals here and 688 00:43:16,200 --> 00:43:19,760 people who are drifting away from you, Lord, draw them back 689 00:43:19,840 --> 00:43:23,320 because you're you got your arms held out and ready to receive 690 00:43:23,320 --> 00:43:28,600 them again, to have that deep close relationship with you. 691 00:43:31,560 --> 00:43:35,160 And Lord use us this week wherever we go, to be salt and 692 00:43:35,160 --> 00:43:37,160 light, and be a blessing to others. 693 00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:42,080 On the night that Jesus was betrayed, he took the bread in 694 00:43:42,080 --> 00:43:44,040 his hands, and he broke, and he gave thanks. 695 00:43:44,040 --> 00:43:48,040 And he said, Take, eat, this is my body which was given for you. 696 00:43:48,600 --> 00:43:58,180 Eat this in remembrance of me. In the same manner, in that 697 00:43:58,180 --> 00:44:02,700 evening he took the cup and he said, This cup is a new covenant 698 00:44:02,700 --> 00:44:06,700 in my blood, which was shed for the forgiveness of sins of many. 699 00:44:07,480 --> 00:44:15,520 Drink this in remembrance of me. For as often as we eat this 700 00:44:15,520 --> 00:44:20,720 bread and we drink this cup, we show forth the Lord's death till 701 00:44:20,720 --> 00:44:24,440 he comes again, Amen. And he's coming again, right? 702 00:44:25,800 --> 00:44:28,880 Get ready. Love you guys, God bless.